The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

Ti£E m^\:eondes. 311com])lotes tlie simple wedding rites, unions are, as a rule, nmcb respected. Casesof infidelity are extremely rare, and when they do occur, the offence is alwayspunished by the banishment of the delinquent. After a confinement the wife livesapart from her husband till the child begins to speak. Then on the day of reunionthe mother brings her offspring to the crossing of two paths, symbolising thedifferent ways of life, and after rubbing it over with oil resigns it to the father,and the family life is resumed.At the death of a Makonde all the gr;iin he possessed is immediately convertedinto beer for the benefit of the community, and the mourning or feasting lastsuntil all the liquor is consiuned. Enriched by the sale of the gum copal andFig. 92.— Maviha Type.caoutchouc, large quantities of which arc produced in their territory, the Makuashave become very proud and overbearing, and show much mistrust atthe visits ofstrangers. Some English mis.sionarics settled in the Masasi country, on thewestern border of the Makonde territory, have hitherto failed to establish uninterruptedrelations with these natives. In the 3''ear 1877, when Chauncy Maplespenetrated into one of their villages, the inhabitants, who had never before seen aEuropean, took him for a ghost, but consented to supply him with food.The Masasi country belongs to a powerful branch of theMakua nation, whichfarther south occupies such an extensive domain in the Jfozanibique region.Yaos of the Nyassa highlands are also numerously represented in this part of theRovuma basin. Here are also met some Wamueras (Wa-Muera), a feeble remnantThe